“Forget it. I’m going my own way.”

In the end, Gilbert turned his back without another word.

“Go on and play the fool, acting all nice. I don’t care anymore.”

“Gilbert!”

“Hyung.”

D’Élysée caught Egru just as he was about to run after him. “Just let him go. There’s no need to placate a whiny brat.”

“B-But he said there was a dangerous dungeon…” Egru looked back frantically at Gilbert’s retreating form, which was quickly being swallowed by the forest. It was too dangerous for him to go alone.

“It’s fine. Trust me. He’s skilled enough to avoid any danger he can’t handle. You know as well as I do how formidable he is with an axe.” D’Élysée praised the man he couldn’t stand without a single change in his expression. He simply couldn’t pass up this golden opportunity to be alone with his brother. “He’s already out of sight. If we chase after him blindly, we might just miss each other. We can’t have Gilbert coming back to the city walls to find us gone, can we?”

“Ah…”

Seeing the anxiety still clouding Egru’s face, D’Élysée delivered the final, gentle blow. “Hyung, we have to help the people of the Giel Principality. They’re waiting for a hero to arrive.”

“…”

“Are you really going to abandon them?”

“N-No…”

“Good. Then let’s go.”

Egru slowly began to walk, following D’Élysée, but he couldn’t stop his gaze from drifting back to the forest where Gilbert had disappeared.

He’s already so reckless…

It was impossible to shake off the worry completely.

By the time the sky was painted in pastel hues, the two had approached the city’s drawbridge. They couldn’t cross, however, as an endless line of people waited for inspection.

“Are you Hero Egru and his companion?”

Just then, a knight who had been waiting nearby approached them. He was a man clad in armor that, while old, was impeccably maintained. “This way, please. I was ordered to escort you with the utmost care.”

“Ah, y-yes…!”

Egru walked forward, keenly aware of the dozens of eyes from the queue now fixed on him. The special treatment felt so foreign that his limbs stiffened, and he moved with a clumsy, awkward gait. D’Élysée, in contrast, walked with a practiced indifference, though he pulled the hood of his robe low to conceal his face.

“Please, get in.”

Beyond the gate, a large, black carriage with a glossy finish was waiting. The number of passengers, however, had been reduced to just two.

“We will see you safely to the palace.” The knight took his place at the front with the driver.

As the carriage began to move, Egru stared out the window, unable to suppress his awe. The streets were small but vibrant, and among the friendly-faced humans were demons. The sight of humans and demons mingling so naturally was entirely new to him, a surprising joy, like tasting sugar for the very first time.

“D-D’Élysée, look at this…!”

“I’m looking, hyung.”

“Yeah!”

D’Élysée’s eyes, however, were not on the view outside, but on Egru. Unaware, Egru pressed his forehead flat against the windowpane again, his pointed ears perked high in a clear display of his excitement.

“It’s all thanks to you, hyung.”

“Huh?” Egru asked, turning to look at D’Élysée.

“I never thought we’d get inside the walls so easily. It’s all because you decided to help others.”

“N-No! It’s because you and Gilbert fought off the bandits so well!”

“We wouldn’t have even bothered if it weren’t for you,” D’Élysée stated flatly, a soft smile playing on his lips. “Thank you, hyung.”

“N-No, thank you…” Egru replied, a shy, bright smile gracing his features.

“Hyung, can I lean on you for a bit?” D’Élysée suddenly asked, rubbing his eyes. “I don’t think I’ve been sleeping well lately.”

“!”

Egru immediately straightened his back and brushed off his shoulder, a clear invitation for D’Élysée to lean on him. Seeing his eagerness, D’Élysée slowly shifted closer. As the carriage rumbled, Egru even took his hand to steady him. D’Élysée felt a pang of guilt for taking advantage of the situation so shamelessly, yet he had no intention of stopping. He leaned his upper body toward Egru, resting his cheek on a shoulder that was much smaller, yet stronger, than his own. His fingers began to toy with his brother’s hand.

“Is this uncomfortable?”

“Nope!” Egru’s reply was firm and confident, as if to say he could handle this with ease.

“You’re so sturdy.”

At his brother’s passing murmur, a proud smile puffed up Egru’s cheeks.

D’Élysée couldn’t leave Egru’s hand alone. Unlike in the past, when it had been calloused from daily hardship, it was now incredibly soft and warm. He held their hands up, comparing the size of his own large palm to his brother’s delicate one. He gently rubbed their hands together before slyly intertwining their fingers, his thick digits weaving through Egru’s shyly wiggling ones. A tingling sensation spread through his stomach as he felt the soft, ticklish brush of his brother’s breath.

He closed his eyes and inhaled the trace of his brother’s pheromones. His tantalizingly white nape was so close, yet for some reason, the scent was faint. Tilting his head slightly to get a better sense of the sweet aroma, he felt his brother’s hands suddenly cup his face, startling him. Egru must have thought he had dozed off and was about to slip. Playing along, D’Élysée pretended to have just woken up.

“D-D’Élysée,” Egru asked, his face etched with concern. “Do you want to use my lap as a pillow and get some rest?”

“Yes.”

The answer left D’Élysée’s lips before the sound had even finished processing in his brain. He had swallowed this stroke of incredible luck whole.

Did his brother have any idea how perilous that offer was? A breath-stealing excitement surged through him, swiftly followed by a thick, heavy wave of anxiety.

What if he offers this kindness to others? Knowing hyung, he certainly would…

The real problem would be when someone mistook that kindness for interest and developed feelings for him. If his brother were to fall for some shoddy seduction attempt…

“Come here, lie down.”

Egru scooted closer to the window, making space for his brother to lie down, and placed a folded blanket on his lap. The moment D’Élysée looked down at the small space, his worries vanished as if they’d been washed clean. It was a pointless concern. From now on, they would always be together; it was a problem he could simply deal with himself.

D’Élysée rested his head on the soft thighs. He deliberately rubbed his head against them, nudging the blanket aside until it slid off. What remained was a far more explicit warmth. He pressed his cheek against the heated flesh, separated only by a thin layer of trousers.

“Is it not too hard? B-Because of my bones…”

“No, it’s very cozy. I think I’ll fall asleep in no time.”

“That’s good.”

Smiling brightly, Egru turned to look out the window again. His small hand instinctively moved to stroke the lustrous platinum-blonde hair but stopped short. For whatever reason, he seemed to think it would be rude to touch it without permission.

But it’s not…

D’Élysée’s verdant eyes watched his brother’s retreating hand with a pang of disappointment.

“But, hyung.” D’Élysée had been lying with his back to Egru, as it was the only way his long legs would fit. “It’s a little cramped.”

He shifted, turning his body completely around. By bending his legs as much as possible, he just managed to make it work. It was a good thing the carriage seats were so wide. Marquis Chelsea had likely sent the largest carriage he could find in the city.

“W-Wait a minute, then…” Egru started, surprised. “It’s… touching.”

“What is?”

Egru couldn’t answer the innocent-sounding question. “N-Nothing.”

D’Élysée nestled his face comfortably in the space below Egru’s abdomen. His verdant eyes filled with the sight of that secret, private place. He took a long, slow breath, then another, savoring the warmth and drinking in his brother’s scent until it permeated his lungs. Every so often, he would pretend to be asleep and press the bridge of his nose against him, making his brother flinch and squirm. Egru was clearly trying to calm his own confused heart.

Haaah… D’Élysée clenched his teeth, closing his eyes and steadying his breath to quell the arousal that had already risen, hard and demanding. His palms were slick with sweat. His brother’s scent, so much stronger now, made his head spin, and a strange, exhilarating heat bloomed in his chest.

“Stroke my hair, hyung.”

The warm puff of D’Élysée’s breath made Egru swallow hard. Tentatively, his hand went to his brother’s cheek, his touch feather-light. The tantalizingly delicate contact made D’Élysée’s eyes flutter open. He looked up at his brother.

A face flushed like a shy sunrise. Amber eyes, clouded with question, looking down at him.

Ah, his gaze drifted helplessly to his lips. Meeting those wavering eyes, he completely lost his senses.

D’Élysée pushed himself up and pressed his lips against Egru’s.